Sometimes Internet dating can have unexpected consequences.
While most everyone has a story about finding instant chemistry with a stranger online or meeting someone they’d rather forget, not every couple decides to forego a relationship and start a band instead. Score one for the Grimm Generation.
Formed in 2010, the band features core members Jason P. Krug (acoustic guitar and vocals) and Carmen Champagne (vocals), as well as Dave Hogan (electric guitar) and Mike Mastracchio (bass). The Grimm Generation started after a chance meeting on the dating website Match.com. After exchanging a series of emails, the duo of Krug and Champagne initially decided to turn their correspondence into a book rather than pursue any possible romance.
“The theme that developed was something we called ‘The Grimm Generation’: the children of the ’70s at 40, online and starting over,” said Krug. “We tried to wrap up our own questionable decisions into a larger social context. And looking at everybody we knew, we figured we weren’t so far off. But you can’t dance to a book, so we started writing punchy sex rock songs with the same themes pared down.”
Those songs initially found life on the EP The End of the World, with many of the same tracks then finding their way onto the group’s debut full-length, The Last Record Party, released by Drug Reaction Records in May.
That album, though deliberately low-key in its approach, is rich in its amalgam of influences, which includes Massachusetts poet Anne Sexton, actor Robert Mitchum, Elvis Costello and, of course, the Internet itself.
Despite being kicked out of the Catholic school choir in fourth grade, Champagne offers throaty vocals that harmonize with Krug’s clearer tone on numbers like “Pull the Trigger” and “I Fall For Everyone.” Elsewhere, Hogan’s twangy guitar work provides welcome accents on “The Book of Day Job.”
The band is already aiming towards more ambitious goals. “Our current project, set for a Thanksgiving Day release, is a Christmas split single with Dave’s band, Graylight Campfire and our own black-humored Christmas tune, ‘The Olde Log Inn,'” said Krug. “We will be releasing a limited number of handmade CDs to ornament your Christmas tree this season. Over the winter, we will be working on arrangements for a second CD, while likely posting new songs regularly on Soundcloud because we can’t help ourselves.”
Also on tap is a series of gigs that includes a stop in the Valley at the Black Moon Music Lounge in Belchertown on “Black Saturday,” Nov. 26.
“We’re calling it our ‘Post-Thanksgiving Self-loathing Tour,'” said Krug. “Come on down and feel sorry for us.”
The Grimm Generation performs Nov. 26 at The Black Moon Music Lounge in Belchertown. For more information, please visit www.thegrimmgeneration.com.
